


It's just Coffee

by thejilyship



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, jily - Fandom
Genre: College AU, F/M, Modern AU, Muggle AU, Single Parent AU, but like of the teasing variety, look this is just fluff and goo, texting fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23567302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thejilyship/pseuds/thejilyship
Summary: Lily is partnered with James for an Econ project that he seems unwilling to make time for.When he shows up forty minutes late to her flat, she finds out why.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 99
Kudos: 512
Collections: James and Lily Fanfics





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure why this idea popped into my head. I miss my babies at work, that's probably where it stemmed from.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like it!

Lily Evans to James Potter: You’re late. Again.

James: I know, and I’m very sorry, but it was unavoidable

Lily: Of course it was. 

James: I’ll be there in ten minutes.

Lily: If you’re any later than that, I’m going to lock the door and not let you in.

James: Completely fair! See you in a few

James: Also, I have to bring someone with me, hope that’s alright!

Lily: I s2g, it better not be Sirius

James: it’s not Sirius, he’s on a date and he’s a git and I’m never speaking to him again

James: I’ll be there soon

Lily put her phone down and frowned. She tapped her pencil against her textbook and looked up at the clock. He’d said that he’d meet with her at six so they could finish this stupid group project that they’d been partnered by their professor to do.

James was not the person that Lily would have chosen to be her partner. Not only was it now six thirty, and he hadn’t even texted to let her know that he was running late, but he’d been late to their last meet up as well. He hadn’t even wanted to meet up the last time. He’d tried to convince her that they could just finish their project after class, even though Lily had another class to get to just thirty minutes after.

But it was fine.

She took a deep breath through her nose and then slowly let it out. This was the last time that they’d have to meet up, and then she could go back to hating this class solely for the damned TA’s unjust disdain for her and the boring source material.

She looked over what she and James had scrapped together so far, and what she’d added for the both of them since she’d been sitting here for almost forty minutes now. It was a short presentation about economic principals. The work was tedious and monotonous, she’d almost offered to just put the entire thing together on her own multiple times just because he was always acting like he had something better to do and she was annoyed with him.

But she couldn’t in good conscious, let someone else take a grade that she worked for, whether it had been difficult to get or not.

She had almost been looking forward to working with James when they were first partnered. He was cute, and he was funny, and he usually sat next to her and there had definitely been some flirting. She knew very little about him. He was a football player, he had amazing hair that he was constantly playing with, his eyes were dangerously mesmerizing, and he was late for class almost every day.

It was six thirty-nine when there was a knock on her door.

Lily felt both annoyed that he’d taken nine of the ten minutes, and a bit guilty for giving him such a hard time. People were busy, sometimes time got away from them.

But as she walked to the door, she got annoyed again because showing up forty minutes late said a lot about how little you thought of the person whose time you were wasting. Her time was valuable too, even if she wasn’t a student athlete. She could have been working on her orgo homework instead of messing around with the font sizes and wording on their presentation while she waited for him.

“I’m sorry,” James said as he walked into her flat. He always walked in like a storm. His hair was wild, his limbs moving with direction and purpose, his eyes flashing. Lily stepped back, giving him a wide girth.

Unlike every other time she’d seen him storm into a room, today, he was carrying a car seat.

“Sirius was supposed to watch Harry for me so that we could finish this project, and then he ‘forgot’ to tell me that he had a date until after I was already supposed to be here. I tried texting Remus, but he’s got his calc lab tonight and Peter’s working in the library- also I didn’t want to be this late, so I didn’t really reach out further than that.” He was talking a mile a minute, but Lily could hardly register what he was saying, she just stared at the round little face in the carrier.

“You have a baby?” She asked, and then she was crouching down so that she could get a better look. “Harry,” She reached out and took his little foot between her thumb and pointer.

“Yeah, Harry. He’s eight months old.” Lily looked up to find James’ hand in his hair. “He’ll probably fall asleep in a bit, so finishing our project shouldn’t be a problem.” He looked at the watch on his wrist and then pushed his glasses up to rub at one of his eyes.

“James, you could have just told me that tonight didn’t work for you.” Lily said, feeling guilty again. He should have communicated better, but he looked a frazzled. “If you need to take him home and put him to bed- I don’t want this stupid project to ruin his night.”

“What?” James’ glasses fell back onto his nose as he looked down at her. “No, he sleeps like a rock, so he’ll be fine. I just left his bag down in the car.” He made to lift the car seat again and Lily shook her head.

“You can leave him with me if you want. I live on the third floor of a building with no elevator. Unless you’re trying to impress someone, it’s insane to carry this thing up and down again.” She gestured to the car seat and he looked as though he was debating something. Lily almost started listing out the reasons she was qualified to be left alone with an infant.

“You’re sure?” James asked before she could tell him that she was CPR certified. 

“Of course.” Lily was sitting cross legged in front of the car seat now, smiling at Harry who was smiling right back at her. She’d already forgotten about econ.

James watched her and Harry for a moment longer and then rushed out the door.

“Well isn’t this a surprise,” Lily said, speaking with Harry as though he was an old acquaintance and not an eight-month-old. “I don’t know why your daddy thought I wouldn’t understand that he needed a bit of leeway here. I thought he just wanted to hang out with his friends or play with his hair, but he was probably with you, yes? And who wouldn’t want to be with you,” She wiggled his foot again and Harry laughed. Lily fought the urge to take the infant out of its car seat and hug him to her chest. “Why are you so cute?” She shook her head and Harry laughed again.

It didn’t take James long to run back up with Harry’s diaper bag.

“I just need a third arm and then this will be easier.” He said, closing her door behind him and setting Harry’s bag next to his own.

“I’m sure your coach doesn’t mind all the extra stairs you just had to scale.” Lily grinned, though she was still looking at Harry. “He’s like a perfect clone. Except for the eyes.”

James crouched down next to her. “You been paying attention to my eyes, Evans?”

“No, I’ve simply noticed that they’re not this brilliant shade of green.” Lily said coolly, turning to give him a look. “Green eyes aren’t nearly as common as people think. So for those of us with green eyes…”

“Sure.” James nodded, “Pretend like you don’t know what color my eyes are.” They were still looking at each other and Harry laughed again, kicking his feet. “Alright, alright, I’ll get you out of there.”

Soon, the three of them were at the table, and James was paying much more attention to their econ assignment than Lily was. But Harry was eating cheerios and kept getting them stuck to his chin and Lily couldn’t be blamed for being distracted.

“Do you want to hold him?” James asked after Lily had leaned across the table to help Harry find the cheerio that was stuck to the tip of his nose.

Lily bit the tip of her tongue and nodded. “I wasn’t sure if it was okay to ask.”

James laughed and held Harry out to her across the table. Lily held out her arms, making sure that Harry wanted to come and sit with her before she took him. He reached out to her happily, grabbing a fist full of her hair almost immediately.

“I like her hair too, Harry,” James laughed, picking up a pencil now that his hands were free, and adding a few things to their notes.

“Are you using your child to flirt with me?”

“No,” James looked back up at her, the corner of his mouth tugging upward. “I was flirting with you when he wasn’t here. I’m just _continuing_ to flirt with you now that he’s here. I’m being consistent.”

“Ah,” Lily nodded as she gently pulled her hair from Harry’s grip. She tossed it up into a quick plait to prevent it from happening again and then looked over at James again. “I’m sorry I’m not helping.”

James laughed and shook his head. “I noticed that you added to it before I got here. And I brought the distraction. No need to apologize.”

“You did bring the distraction,” Lily agreed, letting Harry stand up on her lap. He started bouncing happily and Lily started singing nonsense that made him laugh some more. “I’m either hilarious, or you’re delirious.” Harry was still laughing, and Lily shook her head. “Delirious then.”

“He normally goes to bed about now.” James nodded, looking at his watch again. It was seven thirty and Lily didn’t feel like they’d been in her flat for almost an hour. She pressed her lips together for a moment and then nodded.

“There’s no reason we can’t finish up the rest of this online. We’ve already got the outline for the rest of the project done.”

“You’re sure you wouldn’t mind finishing it up that way?” James asked, and it was obvious that he would prefer to take his baby home before he fell asleep, so Lily nodded, even though she was not sure that she wanted to let Harry, or his father, go just yet.

“I don’t mind at all. I told you that I didn’t want to mess with his sleep.”

“Thanks,” His shoulders relaxed, and he started packing up his bag.

“And James,” Lily nabbed his attention. “Next time you can just tell me that you need to reschedule.”

“Oh? Are you going to pretend that you haven’t been very annoyed with my being late all the time?”

“No,” Lily shook her head. “Though I can be more understanding now that I know you’re not blowing off econ just for fun.”

“Right,” James nodded. “It’s not… I mean, it can be a little awkward telling people that I have a kid. And I don’t want to use him as an excuse- unless my mates are trying to get me to go out and get shitfaced on a Tuesday.” He ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. “And then sometimes I go too long without telling someone that Harry is around, and then it’s awkward when they find out. I’m still trying to work out how to handle it all.”

“Completely unacceptable.” Lily deadpanned. James laughed.

“Right, well, thank you for being understanding and for not getting upset that I had to bring him with me.”

Lily narrowed her brow. “Who would get upset?”

James shrugged. “People have all kinds of weird reactions when you ask them to be accommodating.” James stood up and so Lily did too, sliding Harry deftly to her hip as they made their way toward the door.

“I suppose that’s true. But if you want to bring him to any future projects we have to do, I’ll do my best not to be annoyed.”

James snorted, “Right. You look very annoyed right now.” He put Harry’s snacks back into his pack and then held out his hands to take Harry back.

Lily gave Harry a hug first and then handed him back. “I’m only a little annoyed.”

“So, you like kids, do you?”

“What gave me away?”

James laughed and Lily grinned.

And then Harry was all strapped in and James was carrying everything he had brought with him. “Alright, well then, I’ll text you when he’s down so we can finish up our project. See in class?”

Lily nodded. “Sounds good,” She waved at Harry. “Hope to see you around too, little one.” Harry laughed at her again, but this time it was immediately followed by a big yawn. “I feel you,” She nodded.

She opened the door for James and waved again, this time at him. “See you later.”

As Lily has thought, their project required no further face to face meetings, which she no longer thought was a relief. Now that she knew James wasn’t some inconsiderate ass who thought it was fine to show up thirty or forty minutes late, she found that she liked more than just his hair or his eyes.

James had texted her after he’d gotten Harry to sleep, only they hadn’t stopped texting after they had finished their project.

And then they never really stopped texting.

And the flirting in class came back tenfold.

She was sitting on the couch, her feet propped up on the arm, her head resting on Mary’s lap, and her phone glued in front of her face when Mary tugged on her hair.

“You texting that econ boy again?” She asked.

“You know that I am.”

“I do know that. I was starting a conversation though, and I wasn’t just going to jump right into the middle, was I?”

“You’ve been known to do worse.” Lily set the phone down on her chest and looked up at her friend.

“Have you even seen him outside of class yet?” Mary asked, still looking at her own phone.

“No, but I didn’t even like him until-“

“Until he showed you his baby.” Mary sighed and looked down at her. “Babies are like crack to you.”

“I don’t like him because he has a baby.” Lily said. “I forgave him for being late so often because he has a baby. I liked him before though.”

“You mentioned his hair a couple times,” Mary nodded. “But I wasn’t really trying to give you a hard time for your weird fascination with small humans.”

“It’s not weird to like kids, Mary. _You_ like kids.”

“Sure, and do I wish that I had been home while there had been a baby right here? Where I am every day? Yes, but I was just trying to tease you, let it go so we can get to the point.”

“If you started conversations with your point-“

“Are you going to ask this bloke out?”

Lily pressed her lips together. “Am I allowed to ask him out?”

“Do you want to?”

“I… want him to ask me out.” Mary whacked her on the arm and Lily cried out. “Only so I know that it’s okay! I’ve asked blokes out before, I’m not scared!”

“You are totally a scardy-cat, but have you considered that maybe he doesn’t think it’s okay to ask you out?”

“He said that he was still trying to figure things out with Harry.” Lily said, twirling a piece of her hair around her finger.

“So the two of you are just going to keep obnoxiously texting one another to no end?” Mary asked. “And look, if that is the reason that he says no to a date, will it crush you? Will you be unable to go on?”

Lily pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. “No.”

“Well then…”

“Alright. Alright I get your point.”

Mary narrowed her brow and stayed quiet.

“What?”

“Well go ahead and ask him out.”

“I can’t do it now! We’re talking about how _The Voice_ was a better show before they made all the rule changes.”

“I don’t know why you’re hung up on that-“

“They need to get Adam back, that’s why.”

“Ask out your boy, Evans. Or else.”

“I don’t like it when you say that. I never know what it means.”

“You’re not supposed to.”

“You filled my entire pillowcase with shaving cream once.”

“Well, you’re the one that didn’t listen to me, so who’s fault was that?”

Lily shook her head and narrowed her eyes. “Definitely yours.”

“You’re stalling.” Mary grabbed Lily’s wrist and moved her arm so that Lily’s phone was in front of her face again. “Ask him out. Ask him to dinner here, or for coffee or something else lowkey.”

“You think asking him to dinner here, where I’d cook for him, is lowkey?” Lily’s brow went up. “Remind me to help you out if you ever think about asking someone out.”

“I didn’t say you had to cook for him- you could order in- oh shut up and text him.”

Lily huffed and then clicked on her phone again.

James: Last season was weird anyway just because everyone knew Maelin was going to win from the beginning

Lily: Yes, so I’m going to change the subject now

James: Thank you for the warning lol

Lily: right

Lily: I know that you’re really busy, but I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime. Coffee maybe?

As soon as she hit send, she shoved her phone into the couch cushions.

“You did it already?” Mary asked, surprised.

“You told me to!” Lily pushed herself up and spun around toward Mary.

“What did he say?”

“I don’t know, I turned off my screen.”

“Well you gotta look!”

“I know that!” Lily pulled her knees up to her chest. “He’s going to say no. He’s going to tell me that he doesn’t have time.”

“You don’t know that.” Mary said. “He might say ‘yes.’”

“He might say ‘yes.’” Lily agreed and then dug her phone out of the cushions.

James: You asking me out, Evans?

“He didn’t even answer yet, he just wants to know if I’m asking him out.” Lily’s heart was in her throat.

“Well then clarify! I should have proofread your text.”

“I asked him if he wanted to go out sometime. That’s pretty clear!”

Lily: Of course, I’m asking you out.

“Is saying ‘of course’ a bit aggressive? It’s too late if you’re going to say yes because I’ve already sent the message.”

“No, it’s cute.” Lily looked at Mary. “Sort of aggressive, but in a cute way. Maybe.”

James: Right, of course you are. Why wouldn’t you?

James: I’d love to go out with you

“He said yes!”

“Okay, play it cool!” Mary was on her knees next to her now.

Lily: Love? Relax. I asked you to coffee

“That’s a bit too cool,” Mary laughed. Lily shoved her.

“Don’t read over my shoulder.”

“I’ll do what I want!” But she sat back down.

Lily bit her tongue and settled back against the couch. She really liked this bloke.

James: It’s your enthusiasm that’s bolstering me thanks

James: You free before class on Thursday?

Lily: I am.

James: You were

James: Meet you at one?

Lily: So I should show up at one thirty then?

James: I can be on time occasionally

Lily: Proof?

James: I can tell that you really do like me

James: I’m so excited for you to tease me in person

Lily: teasing is 90% of how I flirt so

Lily: I hope you don’t mind.

James: Nah, I don’t.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius has another date with Benjy and can't babysit Harry, so James asked his girlfriend of two months, Lily, who he's not sure won't kidnap him. Nothing but fluff and banter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look what I keysmashed today? Did I have other plans? Did I plan to maybe work on my original stuff? Yes, that's why this happened. (Also I still miss my babies from work and I got some really cute pictures emailed to me the last couple of days so...)
> 
> Enjoy!

_ James: Okay so I didn’t want to do this, but Sirius is out with Benjy again and I’ve got a calc exam _

_ Lily: It is about time you ask me to watch Harry. I was starting to think that you didn’t trust me around him _

_ James: I’m not fully convinced that you’re not dating me solely because you get to be around him _

_ James: I’m also not fully convinced that you won’t run off with him _

_ Lily: I’ve never met anyone cuter. Or sweeter. Or more handsome. _

_ James: You’ve said on multiple occasions that he’s my clone so _

_ Lily: That makes you equally as handsome, not  more  handsome _

_ Lily: When’s your exam? _

_ James: In two hours _

_ Lily: I’m gonna come over now _

_ James: Harry’s napping now, so don’t be too disappointed when you get here _

_ Lily: You’re ridiculous _

_ Lily: Babies are easy to wake up _

_ James: Lily _

_ Lily: James _

_ Lily: I love Lily James _

_ James: Shut up _

_ Lily: I’ll see you in ten!  _

_ James: If I let you in _

_ Lily: you’ll let me in <3 _

_ James: I mean yeah _

Lily was smiling like the Cheshire cat when James pulled open the door to his flat. 

“Why are you like this?” James asked, tilting his head to the side and running a hand through his hair. Lily reached out with her cheesy grin and pulled him close.

“Because I like you a whole bunch,” She said, putting her hands on his cheeks and pressing quick kisses to his cheeks. 

“I like you a whole bunch too,” He said, hooking one arm around her waist and finding her lips with his as he closed the door.

“Smooth,” Lily grinned against his lips and pushed her fingers up into his hair. 

“I have my moments.” 

“Yes you do,” Lily nipped at his bottom lip. 

“I mean, you have your moments as well,” James wrapped his other arm around her and started walking them in the direction of the couch. 

“Thanks, I’m glad you think so, since you know,” She pressed her lips against his again,” You’re my boyfriend.” 

“Right,” James nodded. They fell back onto the couch and Lily started laughing. James flipped them over so he was hovering over her, “I like being your boyfriend.” 

“Amazing.” Lily pushed his hair back. “But do you like me being your girlfriend?” 

James laughed and kissed up her jaw. “Jury’s still out.” 

Lily hit his shoulder and then pulled him down to kiss her again. “Liar.”

“Alright, I like it,” He nudged his nose against hers. “I should be looking over my notes for the exam.” 

“No, you  _ could  _ be looking over your notes.” She licked her lips and brushed her hands through his hair again. “But you’re too good at math as it is. You don’t need to study anymore. You need to kiss me.” 

James nodded. “You’re right,

“I know.” 

“I do need to kiss you.” 

“Yes, you do.” 

And then he did. 

Harry woke up about an hour or so before James needed to leave, so Lily and James sat on opposite sides of the couch and tried to get him to walk back and forth between them. He wasn’t quite ready to walk yet, he was only ten months old, and he was getting close, but he still used the couch to cruise. 

They were both very enthusiastic whenever he would let go of the couch and stand on his own for a few seconds. Harry would start laughing and try to clap before he fell back on his bum. 

When it was time for James to leave, he wasn't exactly happy about it. 

“Why don’t you go and take my exam for me?” James asked as he pulled on his jacket. 

“How many reasons do you want?” Lily asked, scooting Harry up her hip and pushing her hair back. “I mean, for one, I’m terrible at maths.”

“Yeah, we’ll pretend that’s why you don’t want to leave,” James reached out, slipped his hand around the base of her neck and pulled her close for a kiss. He kissed Harry’s cheek after and then waved to them as he scooped up his bag. “I’ll bring home something for dinner.” 

Lily grinned at him. “Good luck on your exam,” She waved and looked at Harry. “Can you say, ‘bu-bye?’ Say, ‘do well, daddy!’” 

“Da!” Harry laughed and waved his hand. 

“See you later buddy.” James waved again and then he walked out the door. 

“Haha! I’ve got you all to myself now!” She said loud enough for James to hear as he walked away. 

She got a text from him a few minutes later. 

James: I really do like you a whole bunch

Lily: pardon me, I can’t text right now, I’m babysitting

James: Like a whole bunch

Lily: But?

James: No buts. 

Lily: Good. I like you a whole bunch too. Now stop distracting me from the baby

James: My bad. Have fun

Lily and Harry had some snacks and built a lot of block towers that Harry immediately knocked over. They sang some songs and Lily read Harry some books that he then chewed on. They took a lot of pictures together so that Lily could send them to James, but she also sent a few to Sirius to let him know that he was missing out on some top tier snuggles and to thank him for giving her his babysitting slot. He sent her back a middle finger emoji, James didn’t reply since he was taking an exam. 

When James did get back, Lily was warming up some vegetable mash for Harry as the two of them danced around the kitchen to a Taylor Swift song on the radio.

When Lily heard the door open, she put Harry on his feet, holding his fingers so that he could walk to James. “Let’s get your dad,” She said, watching Harry’s little feet move too quickly. 

James knelt down and held his hands out. When Harry made it to him, James picked him up and spun him around. “You’re getting so big!” Harry was laughing and James raspberried his cheek. “I loved all the pictures,” He said, looking at Lily. “And Sirius did as well.” 

“Yeah, he texted me back.” Lily smirked. 

“He’s just worried that Harry’s going to like you more than him.” James shrugged. 

“He is going to like me more than he likes Sirius.” Lily waved his comment away. “Babies always like me.” 

She turned to the counter and collected Harry’s warmed up food from the microwave. 

“I got Thia for us.” James said, strapping Harry into his highchair. 

“Sounds good,” Lily said, grabbing a small spoon and a bib. 

“I thought so.” He ruffled Harry’s hair, and then his own and Lily laughed at him. 

“How did your exam go?” She asked. 

“Perfect. It was longer than it needed to be, but it wasn’t too hard.” 

Lily shook her head. “I wish I was better at maths so I could say shit like that.” 

Harry said a slew of nonsensical words and then laughed. 

“You tell her, Harry,” James nodded, walking around Lily to get to the plates. “Swearing in front of babies gives you bad karma.” 

“I’d hate to see what Sirius’ karma looks like,” Lily muttered, taking a seat in front of Harry and pulling her legs up in the chair. “How about some green veggies? Does that sound good to you?” 

Harry nodded, and opened his mouth before she had the spoon ready. 

She started singing along to the radio again as she fed Harry and then James set two plates of Thia food on the table and sat down next to her, pulling her legs onto his lap before he picked up his fork to start eating. Lily took a quick bite of her meal before giving Harry another bite. 

They were quiet for a while, content to eat their dinner and listen to the radio. 

James looked over at her when they were finished eating and smiled. 

“What? Do I have food on my face?” She wiped at her cheeks and he laughed at her. 

“No,” He shook his head and reached out and ran his fingers through her hair. Between snogging him earlier and Harry tugging at it for the rest of the afternoon, it had seen less snarly days. “No, your face is perfect as usual.” 

Lily snorted, “Should have known.” 

“Have we really only been together for a couple months now?” James asked. The look on his face was soft and gentle and Lily was pulled in like the tide. 

She shook her head. “No.” 

“No?” James raised his brow and smiled at her. 

“Nah, I’m pretty sure we’ve always been together.” 

He leaned over and kissed her. “It feels like it sometimes, doesn’t it?” 

“In a good way though.” Lily nodded. “I mean, most of the time it’s in a good way.” She couldn’t start being too nice to him. He kissed her again despite her teasing, or perhaps because of it. 

“I’m home!” Sirius called as the door banged open. “I brought Benjy with me, so you have to be nice to me!” 

“Like hell,” James called back, pressing another quick kiss to Lily’s cheek before he stood up and grabbed the dishes.

“Evening, all,” Benjy said as he walked into the kitchen. “Harry,” He waved and Harry waved back before stuffing a handful of sliced strawberries into his mouth. 

“Little man,” Sirius greeted, leaning down to kiss Harry head. Harry giggled at him and then offered him a slobbery handful of strawberries. Sirius pretended to take a bite, “Yum,” And then he turned to Lily. “You and I are gonna fight. Out in the parking lot. As soon as James isn’t paying attention.” 

Lily shrugged. “That’s fine. I can take you.” 

“You probably could,” Benjy agreed, opening the fridge and pulling out a couple of beers. 

“Hey now,” Sirius looked over at his boyfriend with narrowed eyes. “That’s not very nice.” 

“I’m just saying, Marlene and Alice beat you at arm wrestling last weekend.” 

“I was so drunk!” Sirius tried to defend himself. 

“So was Marlene?” Benjy tilted his head and handed Sirius one of the beers. Sirius took it and shook his head. 

“Marlene is really strong.” He muttered, taking a swig. 

“So am I,” Lily laughed, dumping some shredded chicken onto Harry’s tray now. He wasn’t as interested in it as he was the strawberries, but he’d get to it eventually. 

“Why do you two always threaten to fight one another?” James asked, looking over his shoulder from where he stood at the sink, washing up the dishes. 

“I don’t know, why do you buy my favorite food and then eat it all without offering any to me?” Sirius countered. 

“Were you not just out with Benjy? Didn’t you two already eat?” 

Sirius shook his head. “That’s beside the point and you know it.” 

“I don’t think it is,” James used his shoulder to push his glasses up his nose. 

“Sirius is just feeling a little jealous.” Benjy reached out and rubbed Sirius’ back. “You know he doesn’t like to share people’s attention.” 

“He does seem rather needy.” Lily muttered, and Sirius reached out to pinch her arm. “Hey!” 

“Hey, yourself!” Harry laughed and they both turned to smile at him. 

“How do you put up with the both of them by yourself so often?” Benjy asked James and then Sirius had to pinch his arm as well. 

“It’s hard sometimes,” James turned off the sink and dried off his hands on his trousers. “I mean, I can’t leave them alone in a room for fear that I’ll come back and find the room destroyed and at least one of them bleeding.” 

Lily narrowed her eyes and looked at Sirius. “He’s just jealous of our friendship.” She said. 

“Clearly. Did you hear that? Sounds like he’s afraid we’ll run off together” Sirius shook his head and Lily snorted. 

“He did tell me earlier that he was worried I’d run off with Harry.” 

“So long as you take me with you,” Sirius shrugged. “I mean, James and Ben just bully me all the time.” 

“James bullies me too,” Lily patted Sirius’ back empathetically. “We’ll pay him back somehow.” 

“Then they do this,” James said to Benjy. “And I want to kick them out of my flat.” 

“I live here too!” Sirius said. 

Harry shouted happily. “And Harry!” Lily pointed out. 

“Okay, but it’s still my flat.” 

Lily sighed, “Oh Harry, I’d share my flat with you. I’m sorry your dad isn’t being kind right now.” She pushed his hair back and James laughed. 

“Ridiculous.” He shook his head. “What did you two do today?” He asked, looking at Benjy. 

“Alice was playing at the coffee shop two streets over. We went to show our support. Then Sirius wanted to bring Remus and Peter coffee at the library.” 

“Because I’m a good friend.” 

“Debatable.” James muttered. 

“How’d your exam go?” 

“Well, I got to take the exam since Lily was able to come over.” He glared at Sirius. 

“You know I didn’t know that-”

“Yea, of course I know.” James nodded. “I don’t blame you, Benjy.” 

“I knew Lily would come over,” Sirius interjected, “She’s never doing anything!” 

“Hey!” Lily laughed. “I’m a student same as you!” 

“Sure, but I’ve never seen you in class so,” 

Lily rolled her eyes and got up from her chair. “We have different classes, Sirius.” 

“Who has morning classes though? That just sounds fake.” 

“I’m a morning person,” Lily shrugged as she got a washcloth to clean Harry up. 

“That sounds fake too.” Sirius shrugged back at her. 

“I can do that,” James said, taking the washcloth from her. 

Lily smiled at him and kissed his shoulder as she moved to get something to drink out of the fridge. 

“Why do you two always have to do that,” Sirius teased. Lily grabbed a coke and turned around to face him. 

“Are you giving me shit for kissing him? Again?” 

“Yes. Also, James, she said a bad word.” He pointed at her and James shook his head. 

“Harry, what are we going to do with them?” He pulled Harry out of the chair and Harry laid his head on James’ shoulder. “Time for a bath, bud?” He walked Harry out of the room toward the bathroom. “Benjy, you’re in charge out here.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“I just kissed his arm, that can’t actually bother you. It’s hardly even PDA. ” 

“It bothered me more than if you’d kissed his face.” Sirius crossed his arms. 

“Really?” Benjy asked. “It looked pretty innocent.” 

“No it wasn’t.” Sirius disagreed. “It was a blatant display of affection and it was too much.” 

“Well you didn’t have to watch.” Lily knew that he was joking, or she might have actually apologized. 

“There was no warning!”

“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s move to the living room and put on a movie or something.” Benjy clapped his hands and stood up, grabbing Sirius’s beer so that he would follow. 

“Fine.” Sirius agreed, and when he stood up he leaned over and kissed Lily on the cheek. 

“You just kissed me! My poor nerves!” Lily put a hand over her heart. “My innocence is burned away! I don’t know if I can go on!” Sirius laughed at her and grabbed his beer back from Benjy so he could take a swig. 

“I don’t know where James found you, but he should probably drop you back off wherever it was.” He threw an arm around her and they started walking off toward the couch. Benjy already had the remote. 

“How did Alice’s set go?” Lily asked. She didn’t know Alice well, but Alice was dating Frank, and Frank had grown up with Reggie so she knew him pretty well. 

“Good!” Sirius nodded. “No one booed at her this time. And she got tips from more people than Ben and I.” 

Lily laughed and shook her head. “I have no idea if she’s good or not, based on what you tell me.” 

“She’s going to be a doctor.” Benjy said, by way of explanation. 

“Alright then.” Lily nodded. 

James came out a while later with a freshly cleaned Harry, his wet hair was sticking straight up, snug and warm in his foot pajamas, and when he saw Lily, he reached out for her. Lily’s heart just about exploded. James, kissed his head and then handed him off to Lily. “I’m gonna warm up his bottle.” 

Lily nodded and wrapped her arms around Harry as he snuggled against her chest. 

“Don’t even say anything,” Sirius muttered, elbowing her gently. 

“Don’t ruin this for me,” Lily muttered back. 

“I think he knows that you skipped out on him to hang out with me, sweet.” Benjy said in a mock whisper. 

“No,” Sirius shook his head. “He knows that I love him.” 

“Don’t fall asleep yet, little one, you’re gonna want your bottle.” 

“Ba,” Harry perked up and looked around. 

“Yeah, daddy’s getting it.” 

“Ba?” 

“Just a minute,” James called, walking back into the room with the bottle. He sat down next to Lily and handed Harry the bottle. Lily shifted him around so she was cradling him with his legs across her lap. James put his arm around her shoulders and shuffled closer. 

“You’re making my teeth hurt.” Sirius shook his head. 

“It’s sweet,” Benjy argued. 

“Too sweet,” Sirius agreed. 

“Ah, I got you.” Benjy picked up Sirius’ hand. “You should let me repaint your nails.” 

“Green?” 

“Do you have green?” 

He jumped up from the couch and Benjy followed him off to his room. 

Lily glanced up at them, but then her eyes were drawn back down to Harry’s face. His eyes were only half open now. “James,” Lily said quietly, nudging Harry’s hands so that she could hold the bottle for him now that he was almost asleep. “I think Harry is my favorite baby.” 

“You think?” 

Lily nodded. “I mean, I do have a nephew his age. I can’t completely discount him.” 

“That’s right.” James nodded. “What did your mum say when you told her you were dating a bloke with a baby?” 

Lily shrugged, gently, as not to disturb Harry. “She was very concerned that you were a forty three year old man.” 

“Forty three?” 

“Yes. Specifically. So I told her that you were only thirty six.” 

James laughed quietly, “Was she alright with that?” 

“My sister almost had a heart attack, mum thought it was better than forty three though.” She set the now empty bottle down on the couch and adjusted Harry in her arms again. “She was a little weary, but not as weary as when my sister introduced us to her now husband. Vernon is a very dislikable person and has very conservative views. When they told us that they were engaged, he told my mum that she didn’t have to worry about Petunia anymore, that he was going to make sure that she never had to work a day in her life.” Lily rolled her eyes. “My sister has a degree in electrical engineering and her husband doesn’t want her to work.” 

“So the bar was low. Is that what you’re saying?” 

Lily snorted. “Yeah, it was pretty low. But my mum will like you. And Harry. And she trusts me to make decisions for myself. I like you and I want to be with you because you make me smile a lot, and that’s enough for her.” 

“My mum thinks you're a saint.” 

“I am, but not because I’m dating you even though you have a baby.” 

“It’s because you’re dating me even though I come with Sirius, right? Because that’s what my mum was thinking.” 

Lily laughed, covering her mouth to try and stifle the noise. Harry shifted in her arms. “Yeah, exactly.” 

“He’s not so bad.” 

“Don’t tell him, but I think he’s pretty great. Him and Benjy are sweet together too.” 

“Yeah,” James nodded. “Benjy is the first person that Sirius has ever dated, and I’m still surprised at how sweet he can be.” 

“Really? He looks like that and he’s never dated anyone before?” James laughed and shook his head. 

“He wasn’t interested in dating anyone before he met Benjy. It threw him for a major loop when it happened too, but it helps that Benjy wants the same things from the relationship that Sirius does.” 

Lily nodded. “I think Remus is my favorite of your friends.” 

“That’s hardly fair, you were friends with him before you met me. He had a head start.” 

“Plus he works in the library. Marlene and Dorcas are cool too.” 

“I only hang out with cool people.” 

“Is that to make yourself seem cool by association?” 

“I thought that’s why you were dating me, actually.” 

“You’re such a bully.” She turned her head and kissed his chin. 

“But kissing me when you say that, kind of defeats-” Lily kissed him again. “Oh alright, I’ll stop arguing so much.”

“No, don’t say that. Arguing with you is one of my favorite things to do.” James laughed against her lips and brought his hand up to brush his thumb over her cheek. 

“Alright, Evans.” He kissed her, short and sweet. “But remember that I offered to stop.” 

She smiled and settled against his chest. “Ridiculous.” 

“What’s ridiculous this time?” 

Lily hummed as James pulled her closer, until her back was flushed with his chest, Harry sleeping soundly on her chest. “How happy I am right now.” 

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years everyone!!!

James was far more nervous than he needed to be. Lily continued to tell him that as they got closer to her mum’s house, but he continued to be nervous. She tried holding his hand, telling him funny stories, distracting him with Harry, but it didn’t really matter what she said or did, he was still nervous.

Luckily, they were just ten minutes outside of Cokeworth and soon he would be in front of her mother and realize that she wasn’t nearly as scary as he thought she was.

“What should I not talk about?” He asked, turning toward her rather abruptly. It was a good thing they had opted to take the train instead of driving, because they would have gotten lost more than once by now.

“What do you mean, what should you not talk about?”

“Exactly that, what should I steer away from? Does your mom really think I’m in my thirties?”

“No.” Lily laughed. Harry was sitting on her lap chewing on a book about a hippo with the hiccups. “No, she doesn’t think you’re in your thirties. I told you that I told her the truth.”

“You said that you told her I was thirty-eight.”

“I was joking. She knew I was joking.”

He covered his face with his hands and then sat up as the train started slowing and the electronic voice announced that they were pulling into the station. “Let me have, Harry.” He said, reaching to take Harry off her lap.

She reluctantly gave him up, but she could understand why he wanted to be the one holding him when he met Lily’s mum. He had kept Harry a secret from Lily when she’d first met him, he was always worried what people would think of him when they met him, what they would think about the choices he was making for his baby. He wasn’t normally this worried, but Lily figured that he thought the stakes were a bit higher in this situation.

But Lily knew that her mum already liked James because she was always talking about him and Rose had said multiple times that she already felt like she knew James.

“Come on!” Lily jumped to her feet and pulled James by his arm. She went to reach for their suitcase and he swatted her hand away, picking it up with the arm he wasn’t using to hold Harry. “James,”

“I’ve got it.” She kissed his cheek and then mused Harry’s hair before leading them off the train. She spotted her mum standing off by the concrete. When she spotted Lily, she started waving her arms in the air and Lily waved back excitedly.

It had been a while since she’d seen her mum in person. She had spent Christmas with James’ family, as her mum had spent Christmas at Petunia’s. Lily had been invited, but she had been invited by her mum, not her sister, so she’d told James that she would go with him.

But it was new years now, and she’d gotten James to agree to spend it with her mum. When she’d asked him, he had been enthusiastic and excited, but he had gotten progressively more nervous since then, until he was the ball of nervous energy he was now.

“Mum!” She called out and she wanted to run up to her, but she didn’t want to let go of James, lest he dissolve into a puddle of anxiety.

“Lily!” They finally reached her and Lily threw her arms around her mum, pulling her tightly to her chest and rocking back and forth as she laughed. “Happy new year!”

“Happy, new year, flower!” She pulled back and Rose was already turning to James. She stepped up to her and pulled both him and Harry in for a hug. “Happy new year, James and Harry! It’s so good to finally meet the two of you!”

“It’s nice to meet you as well-“

“You best call me Rose!” She interrupted.

“Rose,” James nodded, and Lily watched a bit of his anxiety melt away.

“Gah, I feel like I already know the two of you,” She smiled at Harry, who was shyly leaning against James’ chest. “Lily is always sending me pictures and talking about you.”

“Yeah, she and Harry are buddies.”

“Oh,” Rose looked up at him. “I get plenty of pictures of Harry, but I was talking about you.”

James looked a little surprised and then looked at Lily. “She sends you pictures of me?”

“Yes. And Sirius, and Benjy and Mary- I get about a dozen of Mary a day.”

Lily nodded. “I like to share my friends with you.”

“I appreciate it. Here, let me take that.” She reached for James’ bag and took it from him before he could protest. “We live a block from here.”

Lily reached over and pulled Harry’s knit hat down over his ears more firmly and then linked arms with James. Rose started leading the way and Lily smirked up at James. “I told you that you didn’t have to be nervous.”

James frowned. “I’m still nervous.”

“Well stop.” Lily pinched his side. “Also, when do I get Harry back?”

His smile pulled up at one corner. “You send pictures of me to your mum?”

“I also send pictures of you to Mary’s mum, and your mum. A few to my cousin.”

“Mary’s mum? When did you get my mum’s number?”

“Sirius gave it to me a week after we started dating.” Lily shrugged. “I didn’t start texting her until after I met her, though. And Mary’s mum is like a second mum to me and she doesn’t have Facebook or Instagram and she wanted to know what you look like. You’ll get to meet her tonight too.”

“Right. I forgot that Mary was gonna be here.”

“You would have forgotten your name today with how much of a state your worked yourself into.” Lily teased him.

Rose looked back at them over her shoulder and smiled. Lily gave her a small thumbs up.

When they got to the house, Rose said that she was going to make a pot of tea and that they could head up to their room and get settled. “I put Dudley’s pack-n-play in there too!”

“Thanks, mum!” Lily took the suitcase from her and then led James up the stairs. She pushed open the last door in the hallway and dropped the suitcase on the bed. She felt so content to be sharing this part of her life with James now. Her chest was full and tingly and warm. She turned around to share her joy with him when she noticed that he was very much not in the room.

She frowned and stepped out into the hallway and found him looking over family pictures that were hanging on the wall at the staircase. “You had braces,” He grinned at her.

“Well, most teeth don’t look like this without a little help,” She walked over to him.

“Look how cute you are,” He pointed at a picture of her and Petunia posing on their bikes when Lily was about seven. “Harry, look, that’s Lily,” Harry was reaching out to grab at the picture and Lily reached for her phone and snapped a picture of this moment in front of her. She really did take a lot of pictures.

“James,” He looked over at her, his cheeks still red from the cold, his hair extra messy from the hat he’d pulled off when he’d walked inside. “I love you a whole bunch.” He smiled at her, still standing on the stairs, one foot in the hallway, leaning against the banister as he looked at pictures of her when she was a kid.

“I love you a whole bunch more,”

“Doubt it,”

He set Harry down. “Go get, Lily.”

Harry wasn’t quite a year yet, but he had started walking a couple of weeks ago and while he was still very wobbly, he was also very determined about the whole thing. He spotted Lily standing in the middle of the hallway and clenched his fists as he started toward her, looking all the while like he was about to tumble over.

But he made it to her and Lily lifted him up in the air and blew raspberries on his cheeks. “I’m so proud of you, buddy!” She grinned. “James, take our picture for Sirius.”

“Is this a nice picture for Sirius, or a teasing picture?”

“Why can’t it be both?”

“Right, of course.”

When they were in Lily’s room, James went about setting up the pack-n-play while Lily got Harry’s things out of the suitcase. James was an expert packer, and even though they only had one suitcase between the three of them, everything they needed was in there.

She got out Harry’s diapers and wipes and changed him before putting him into his jammies and giving him his stuffed bear and his stuffed dog that he slept with every night. Sirius and Remus had given them to him, trying to see which one he liked more in an attempt to prove which one of them was Harry’s favorite uncle. Their plan had backfired. She took another picture of Harry stuffing the dogs face into his mouth for Sirius, and then kissed the top of his head.

She turned to James, who was done setting up Harry’s bed and looking around Lily’s room now.

“I can’t believe that you brought me home.”

“Yes you can,” Lily rolled her eyes.

“We haven’t been together that long.”

“Three months is plenty long. Besides, I told you that it feels like we’ve been together forever.”

“I know,” He sat down on the other side of her bed and leaned over, kissing her jaw.

“You brought me home first.”

“Yes, well my mum and Sirius threatened me.” He was teasing her now, he had that glint in his eye and Lily gasped.

“You only brought me home because you were threatened?”

“Yes.” James nodded. “Why else would I have done it?”

“James Potter,” But it wasn’t Lily who said it and she started cackling as she turned toward the door and saw her best friend standing there with her arms crossed over her chest.

“I didn’t mean it,” James jumped up from the bed and put his hands up in mock surrender. “You know I didn’t mean it.”

“You best mean that,” Mary tilted her head. Harry had perked up when he saw her, trying to stand on the bed, but when that proved too difficult, he opted to crawl and Mary scooped him up and gave him a tight squeeze. “Why do you smell so good,” She said through clenched teeth. “My uterus just doesn’t know what to do when I see you, Harry,” She kissed his cheek and then turned toward the door. “Mum says the tea is done.”

“I think we lost, Harry for the rest of the night.” Lily said, standing from the bed and holding out her hands for James.

“Can’t even take advantage of that properly since we’re meant to be visiting your family,” He sighed like he was sad about not having the chance to feel her up at the moment and Lily laughed at him.

“We’ll take advantage later, there are still people that you have to meet!”

His nerves completely disappeared once they were seated at the table and Mary’s mum and Lily’s mum started telling stories about the two of them when they were younger. Mary started dinner after they finished the tea, and James helped, which impressed both of the mums, and made Lily role her eyes.

Harry was enamored with Rose and Grace, showing off as long as he could by walking back and forth between the two of them. But soon it was his bedtime and he was growing sleepy. Grace asked if she could give him his bottle, and then Mary wanted to hold him while he was sleeping, and Lily had to tell James that they would all still like him when Harry was in bed before she convinced them to let her put him down to sleep.

They played cards and drank beer and more of Lily’s family showed up as the night went on. Her dad’s sister, a couple of her cousins, her gran. It wasn’t a big party, and they weren’t a loud group, but Lily had never enjoyed showing anyone off as much as she was enjoying showing off James.

After the clock struck midnight, and Lily had kissed James and Mary, they said goodnight to everyone except Lily’s gran, who would sleep in the guest room downstairs.

When they were back in Lily’s room, in their pjs and tucked under her quilt, James wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. “I have some plans that I should inform you of.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I plan to spend this entire year with you. I thought you should know.”

“I do appreciate you letting me know. Very thoughtful,” She felt her smile stretch impossibly big. “I have some plans that I need to inform you of as well,”

“What would they be?”

“Well, I plan to spend the entire year with you too.”

“You do?”

“Yes, but not just this year.”

“Not just this year?”

“No, I think I’ll be greedy and keep you around next year too.”

James was quiet for just a moment, “Are you sure? This year only started about an hour ago. There’s a lot of time between now and then.”

Lily twisted in his arms, so she could look up at his face. “I want to keep you.”

He leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Good to hear.” He kissed her nose. “Because I wasn’t gonna be satisfied with just this one year.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth.

No, one year would not do. She wanted all the years he would give her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Have some fluff!

“You’re so clingy, I love it.” Lily said into Harry’s hair. He was draped across her front, as he had been for the last ten minutes or so, ever since James’ study group for one of his maths classes had arrived.

Normally, Harry a very sociable kid, who didn’t get nervous around new people, but there were quite a few people in this study group, and they were all in Harry’s house, and they were loud, and it was close to bed time. So Lily had taken him into his bedroom to get away from the noise. And so James could concentrate on maths.

Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day, and James had been stressing out since Tuesday because he wanted to put together something big and romantic for their first Valentine’s together, but he also had a very big exam, very early Monday morning, and his group could only meet today.

Lily, who was a romantic, had assured him that she understood, that she didn’t want him to worry about it, that they didn’t need to go out just because it was Valentine’s. She told him that they could celebrate the following weekend, when he was 150% less stressed without an exam to worry about, and when Sirius would be available to babysit Harry.

James had agreed, but Lily didn’t think it was guiltless.

She didn’t know how to explain to him that the calendar date really wasn’t important to her. Holding Harry against her chest, feeling his heartbeat synchronizing with hers, that was what was important. If she spent all of Valentine’s with Harry cuddling into her chest and holding onto her finger like he was just then, she would be perfectly happy.

Harry popped his head up when a particularly loud member of James’ study group yelled something, and he looked at Lily with wide green eyes. “We’re friends with Sirius, Harry. Loud people can’t bother us too much.” The little boy smiled at her. He had turned one only three days after Lily’s twenty first birthday, but she was pretty sure that he understood everything that she said.

“Siri!”

“Yeah, he’s loud. Much louder than your dad’s friends.”

“Da?”

“Yeah,” Lily nodded. “Remember when it was our birthday weekend and Uncle Sirius sand _Let’s Go Swimming_ while standing on top of the table? That was loud. I’m surprised the neighbors didn’t call to complain.”

“Blub blub!” Harry clapped at the mention of one of his favorite songs and Lily smiled at him.

“See, you remember. There’s no need to be worried about boys who are good at maths.”

Harry went on a long story after that, using his hands and many facial expressions and Lily listen very intently before he started laughing and then kissed her cheek with too much zealous. Then he was done sitting on her lap and went to go dump out all of his bins of toys. Lily picked up her homework that she’d set down when he’d first come over to cuddle, and started working again.

James’ study group was kicked out at exactly seven o’clock so that James would be able to do his normal nighttime routine with Harry.

Lily heard the front door shut and then James opened Harry’s door.

“I hate this class.” He said, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“Da!” Harry clapped and started laughing as he bounced up and down.

“Harry!” James smiled at him, crouching down and opening his arms. Harry dropped the yellow car he’d been chewing on and started tottering toward James. Lily watched the two of them.

“You don’t hate this class, you hate working with others outside of class. You weren’t fond of it even when I was your partner.” She quirked a brow at him and he shook his head, turning Harry around to go back to his cars and then turning his attention to her.

“I did not hate having you as a partner.”

“No, you just hated coming over to my flat to help me with our project.”

James rolled his eyes and stood up so he could walk over to where Lily was seated in the rocking chair. “Thank you for watching him.”

“I told you to stop doing that.” Lily shook her head and looked back down at her notebook. Harry had brought her half a dozen puzzle pieces since he’d gotten down to play, and they were stacked on top of her unopened textbook.

“I know, but I’m not going to stop. I appreciate your help.”

Lily glanced over at him.

“I mean, I know that you’ve said many times that Harry is the main reason that you’re dating me-“

“I mean, you’re a good snog too.”

“Right, of course. But just because you enjoy spending time with him, doesn’t mean that I’m not thankful that you agree to help out.”

A lot of big feelings had been brewing in Lily’s heart for the last month or so, but she didn’t know how to voice them yet, so she offered James a smile. “You promised me on New Years that we were going to be together all year. And next year. Am I supposed to only date you when you have a babysitter?”

James ran a hand through his hair. “I mean, that would make things a bit more difficult. Seeing as how Sirius has been impossible these last couple of weeks.”

“He’s still upset that Harry said my name before his.”

“Probably.” James agreed. He leaned over and kissed the top of Lily’s head. “I’m gonna give the kid a bath and start the bedtime routine. Then we can have our date night in.”

“You almost didn’t sound disappointed when you said it that time!” Lily laughed. “I’ll clean up in here.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know.” Lily nodded. “But I’m going to.”

James hummed but then walked to the dresser and got Harry’s pajamas. “Come on, buckling, let’s go for a scrub.” He held out his hand and Harry latched on quickly.

Lily watched them leave the room and then let out a heavy sigh. She’d only known them since the end of September. How was it possible that she hadn’t known either of them before September? That was only about five months ago.

Her life had irrevocably changed when she met them. They fit together in a way that Lily hadn’t been aware people could fit together. They’re friend all got along, Lily’s mum loved them both, James’ parents texted her nearly every other day, even Lily’s sister hadn’t been able to find anything mean to say about James or Harry. She’d been a bit mean about James being such a young, single father before she’d met him, but no one could see James with Harry and suggest that he wasn’t a completely wonderful father.

Lily put her homework aside and chewed on her lip as she went about cleaning the room.

Lily had always been enamored with kids, which was one of her main motivations for becoming a primary school teacher, but Harry was different. The love that she felt for him was different. It was bigger and it took over more of her brain than she had been prepared for.

She still lived with Mary technically. But she spent most of her time that she wasn’t in school, here. Half the time, Mary was here with her, and Sirius joked about how they had their own flat to hangout in, but Lily was starting to be more comfortable here.

She finished cleaning and then moved out to the living room to finish up her homework. She was writing down the last homework problem when Harry and James came out of the bathroom. Harry was wearing dinosaur pajamas that had spikes down his back and claws on the feet. They had been a birthday present from Remus.

“Those are so cute!”

“I already sent Remus half a dozen pictures.” James laughed, seeing that Lily was getting her phone out.

“Alright, but what about my mum?”

“Yep, she got some too.” James plopped Harry down on the end of the couch. “I’m gonna get his bottle.”

“Come here, little dino.” Lily closed up her textbook and put it on the coffee table just in time for Harry to tackle her in a hug. “You give the best hugs, buddy.” Lily took a big whiff of his freshly cleaned hair and squeezed him to her chest, causing him to giggle. Lily gave him plenty of kisses in quick succession to keep him giggling and then she as laughing too.

James came back with Harry’s bottle and scooped him up. “What are you two laughing at?” He asked, handing Harry his bottle and then sitting down nearly on top of Lily. She laughed again and traced her hand up his back and into his hair.

“He makes my heart full.” Lily said. “It overflows in laughter.”

James snorted. “You should write for hallmark.”

“I should.” Lily agreed, twisting James’ hair in her fingers and leaning against his shoulder.

“All I can see right now are numbers. My brain feels like mush.”

Lily hummed, pressing a kiss to James’ bicep. “Nothing a little post-bedtime snogging can’t cure.”

James laughed and turned his head to kiss her forehead. “That’s probably true.”

Harry never took long to put down, as he normally fell asleep with his bottle. James came back from laying him down, and immediately came back to the couch and cupped Lily’s face.

He kissed her sweetly, in that way he did when he had something he wanted to say. When he pulled back his eyes were bright. “I know that we’re not going to do Valentine’s how couples normally celebrate, but I did get you a present, and I want to give it to you tonight.”

Lily ran her fingers through his hair and kissed the corner of his smile. “I got you a present too.”

“I knew you were going to,” He shook his head. “You kept going on about how you don’t care about Valentine’s day-“

“I knew that you were going to get me a present! I couldn’t not get you anything!” Lily laughed.

“Yeah, well, I love you and I wasn’t going to ignore Valentine’s day!”

James hopped up from the couch and jogged into the kitchen. He pulled something from the top of the fridge, which was a pretty good hiding place since Lily couldn’t see up there. He climbed over the back of the couch and fell back into his spot beside her.

“Alright,” He said, holding out to her a purple bag the size of a book. She took it and appraised it’s weight. It was fairly heavy. Maybe it was a book.

She smiled at him and then reached in. The first three things she pulled out were candy bars, and they all had post-it notes stuck to them with candy heart phrases on them. James’ ears turned red while Lily red them all. _Be mine, Only you_ and _Soulmate._ After the candy bars there were bags of gummy worms and gummy bears and Lily laughed as she kept pulling out all the candy.

She was buried in a small mountain of candy by the time she noticed the small box at the bottom of the bag.

Lily picked it up, it was a little bigger than her palm, and pretty thin. There was little chance of it being filled with more candy.

“And what’s this?” She asked, peeking up at him. At Christmas, she’s specifically forbade him from getting her any kind of jewelry. She set a spending limit and made him stick to it. She’d enforced the same rule for her birthday.

“Open it.” His ears were entirely red now. Lily smiled at him and then pulled the lid off the little box. To her relief, she wasn’t met with any kind of precious stone. It was a simple, gold locket.

She pulled it out of the box and glanced briefly at James before she opened it.

Inside was a very tiny, very cute picture of James and Harry. It was a picture that Lily had taken about a month ago, one that she said she was going to print out and show everyone so she could brag about how lucky she was. And James had put this picture that made her insides melt, into a locket for her.

She dropped the empty box back into the bag and then leaned forward on her knees to kiss him.

“You like it?” He said when she pulled back and swept her hair over her shoulder.

She held out the necklace to him and nodded. “I love it.”

He helped her with the clasp and then she jumped off the couch to go and fetch his present, which she’d hidden in the oven.

“We both hid them in the kitchen?” James laughed. “That could have been problematic.”

Lily smiled and came back with a red box that she had decorated with a large white bow. She handed it to James. “You’re going to make fun of me for being hallmark again, but I don’t care!”

James laughed as he pulled off the lid. “I won’t make fun of you.”

“You will.”

The first thing he pulled out of the box was a tin of cookies. They were all shaped as hearts, and similar to his gift, they had candy hearts phrases on them, but they were a bit more explicit than normal candy hearts. They said things like, _I like your butt,_ and _Shag me._

Under the tin was a photo album and Lily held her breath as he picked it up, setting the box aside so he could open it.

The first page was one of the very first picture she’d taken of Harry and James. It was after their second date and Harry had been laughing hysterically every time James ripped a piece of paper. Both of them were red in the face. Lily had taken thousands of pictures since she’d started dating James. And this album was a collection of her favorites. Next to each of the pictures, she’d written a little note about what was going on in the picture.

Lily waited for James to turn the page so she could see him react to a picture of Lily and Sirius, but he just kept looking down at the first picture.

“Do you like it?” She said, reaching out and putting a hand on his arm. “I figured I should do something nice with all the pictures I take.”

“I uh-“ He cleared his throat and Lily leaned down to try and get a better look at his face, but he kept his head down. “I love it.” His voice was strained.

“James?”

He looked up at her, his head tilted to the side. He was crying.

“Oh no!” Her hands fluttered about, not entire sure what to do. She’s not seen James cry before. “What’s wrong?”

“Absolutely nothing.” He laughed, reaching up and swiping at his eyes.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry!”

“Yeah you did,” James laughed again. “You can’t write things like this and-“

“That’s what I thought you’d make fun of me for!” She reached up and cupped his cheek.

“You wrote, ‘ _This is the moment I knew that I wanted you two to be my forever.’_ ” James pointed at the caption on the first picture. “What part of that am I going to make fun of?”

“The very first one made you cry?” Lily pressed her lips together, trying not to smile. “Oh my goodness, James. I love you so much.” She leaned up to kiss him.

“I love you so much.” He repeated against her lips. “This is a very thoughtful present but I can’t read anymore of it right now.” Lily laughed as she nodded in agreement.

“No, I think we need to find something else to do.”

“Maybe some of that snogging we talked about earlier?”

“Maybe, but I was thinking we could eat all of this candy you got me.”

“Yes!” He agreed. “And the cookies.” She kissed him again and then shook her head as she sat back down.

“Maybe I really should work for Hallmark.”

James laughed and slung his arm around her. “I guess that’s what we’re watching then.” He handed her the remote and shoved a cookie in his mouth before resting his hand on top of the album.

He could make fun of her for being a sap all he wanted, but he loved it.


End file.
